S18 E04 Week 4: The Switch-Up

04/07/14 | TV-PG | CC

America was given the power to change celebrity and professional dance pairings and each star had to face this new challenge. The new couples were revealed live for the first time throughout the evening. Additionally, two-time professional Dancing with the Stars champion, Julianne Hough, returned to guest judge for the second time.

WEEK 4 SCORES:

Carrie Ann

Len

Julianne

Bruno

Total

Candace & Tony

7

7

7

7

28

James & Cheryl

9

8

9

9

35

Drew & Witney

8

8

9

8

33

Danica & Maksim

8

8

8

8

32

Charlie & Peta

7

8

9

9

33

Amy & Mark

9

8

8

9

34

Cody & Sharna

8

7

8

8

31

NeNe & Derek

8

8

8

8

32

Meryl & Valentin

10

9

10

10

39

• It was the night of the big Switch-Up and the show got off to a fun start with a big number featuring all of the pros and stars dancing with each other. Even the judges got in on the action!

• Next it was time for Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews to formally introduce this week’s special guest judge—actress and two-time champion Julianne Hough! She promised to bring that “very honest Hough style” once again, and boy did she. Tom and Erin also let us know that this week’s scores and votes would be combined with the previous week’s to determine who is eliminated in Week 5!

• First on the dance floor was Candace Cameron Bure paired with Tony Dovolani for a punk rock-styled quickstep. Bruno Tonioli said “it was like a quickstep performed by the Sex Pistols,” which is pretty rockin’, but the judges were not so complimentary about the technique, giving them straight 7s for a total of 28 and giving Candace a combined Week 3 & Week 4 score of 60 out of 80—the bottom of the leaderboard.

•James Maslow and Cheryl Burke were the next couple to hit the ballroom. While Cheryl admitted that she had been worried about being as good a partner as Peta Murgatroyd, she sure didn’t seem like it as she arrived on a throne looking like a fierce queen. James took the role of the dashing prince, and the two of them lit up the room with a tango that Len Goodman called “burning hot.”

•Drew Carey, coming off of a week at the bottom of the leaderboard, took things up a notch with a solid gold cha cha courtesy of new dance partner Witney Carson. While she might have made him feel a little old during rehearsals, he definitely showed how young at heart he can be on the dance floor. The judges loved it and Drew showed some big improvement. Should Cheryl be worried?

• Next up in the ballroom was Danica McKellar and her new partner for the week, Maksim Chmerkovskiy. While Danica was excited to get partnered up with another Chmerkovskiy brother, their jive met a mixed reaction from the judges, with guest judge Julianne Hough even wondering aloud if Maks was trying to just get past this performance to get back to Meryl. Needless to say, Maks didn’t agree and luckily for him, neither did his brother.

• Controversy once again followed Olympian Charlie White after his rumba with his switch-up partner for the week, Peta Murgatroyd. All four judges agreed that the dance was beautiful, but both Len and Carrie Ann Inaba felt that the dance was not actually a rumba! The result was Charlie’s lowest scores of the competition so far with a total of 33.

• Paralympian Amy Purdy showed off her hot salsa moves with her new partner, Mark Ballas, and the judges loved it. Carrie Ann called their performance “excellent” and Len told Amy that her “bottom is the top.” They backed up those compliments with a total score of 34.

• For the first time in Dancing with the Stars history, two Aussies were paired together when Cody Simpson paired up for the week with Sharna Burgess. Cody showed off not only his dance moves, but his vocal prowess as well before he and Sharna hit the dance floor with their foxtrot. While the judges all loved Cody’s voice, some of his technique left them wanting a little more.

• The fans partnered up NeNe Leakes and the pro she called a “munchkin” just a week before, Derek Hough. But there was nothing small about their fierce jazz performance that was something like Beyonce meets Game of Thrones. It was the side of NeNe everyone, including the judges, had been dying to see, and she—and Derek—delivered!

• To close out an amazing night of dancing, Meryl Davis was partnered for the week with Valentin Chmerkovskiy for a hot Argentine tango that rocked the ballroom! Julianne said that she “would love to dance like [Meryl].” Bruno called it “powerful and seductive.” Carrie Ann told Meryl and Val that they “are in a class of [their] own” and called them “untouchable.” Len simply said that their performance was “the dance of the night.” Fitting, since Meryl and Val were the pair fans most wanted to see! Nice job, you guys.